Reviewer:
jasonvanderhill
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October 31, 2015
Subject:
A few great glimpses of the GGIE
This film opens with a classic shot down the Court of the Seven Seas towards the Tower of the Sun, with the fountain of Western Waters in the foreground. The next scene is really quite rare and unique - a closeup shot of a performer in purple silk, as he balances a large pole, sign, or tree trunk with one hand, and then he launches it on to his shoulder. I can't determine exactly which country this would have been representing, but it may have been at the Netherlands East Indies pavilion, or possibly the French Indo-China or Johore pavilion, all which were in the same general area.
Briefly, we see a long shot of a [bi]plane doing an aerobatic loop with a pink colored smoke trail. I'm not sure how often there were air displays at the GGIE, but I see there was one documented on October 29, 1939, so that might help to pinpoint the date.
Next, we see a shot pan across the North Lake towards the Netherlands East Indies pavilion, apparently recreating a Hindu-Javanese temple, topped with a multi-tiered Balinese style tower. There had been an equally dramatic construction made for the Dutch Pavilion at the 1931 Paris Colonial Exposition, which converged various styles of East Indian architecture.
And finally, night has fallen, and the film ends with a similar shot down the Court of the Seven Seas towards the Tower of the Sun, except this time you can't see much in the dark, as the film speed could not capture the beautifully illuminated buildings at night. The remaining shots appear to have been taken from a boat, leaving Treasure Island, but its hard to make out much of anything.